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Anyone know anything about St. Louis??

I have been unemployed in the St. Louis Mo. area for around 9 months now. A month ago I decided to take a chance and attend some schooling at a trade school located in alabama. Now for the previous 10 years of my life I worked in the medical field repairing medical equipment so my mechanical apptitude is excellent along with my troubleshooting skills, this helped out immensely with my schooling and I was kicking all my instructors butts at problem solving. Anyway I have completed my training and I have my EPA 608 certification along with my OSHA training certification. Now my problem lies here with in the great city of St. Louis, it appears that St. Louis is a dying city, some say its the election and some say its the economy. I am desperately seeking a job that can help me start my new career choice, would anyone out there know of someone in the St. Louis area who would be interested in giving a hard working, extremely knowledgeable man a chance??

I have been unemployed in the St. Louis Mo. area for around 9 months now. A month ago I decided to take a chance and attend some schooling at a trade school located in alabama. Now for the previous 10 years of my life I worked in the medical field repairing medical equipment so my mechanical apptitude is excellent along with my troubleshooting skills, this helped out immensely with my schooling and I was kicking all my instructors butts at problem solving. Anyway I have completed my training and I have my EPA 608 certification along with my OSHA training certification. Now my problem lies here with in the great city of St. Louis, it appears that St. Louis is a dying city, some say its the election and some say its the economy. I am desperately seeking a job that can help me start my new career choice, would anyone out there know of someone in the St. Louis area who would be interested in giving a hard working, extremely knowledgeable man a chance??

All that I can say is good luck. I've been done with my schooling for over a year and a half and only received 2 offers. These were hotel maintenance positions that started off at a whole 9 dollars an hour and were over a 40 mile drive. Needless to say, I didn't take either of them. And yes, I am certified in HVAC and I do have an EPA universal certification. I'm sure you will figure out, if you haven't already, these certifications don't mean a damn thing unless you have experience.

The St.louis area sucks. Unless you know someone, which you probably don't since you are from Alabama, you will have a hard time finding employment as a newbie. You wouldn't believe how many hours I've spent looking for work in this field and how many resumes I've sent out, only to receive 2 calls for jobs that I wouldn't even consider.

St. Louis isn't a dying town it's just saturated with HVAC tech's. And when the economy isn't good neither is job hunting. The Co. I work for is always looking for techs, but that's because there's a lot of travel and high turn over rate. We have cover MO, IL, IN, AR, KS, OK and TN.

BTW I moved from High Ridge. I grew up in Jeff. county. Maybe we'll have to meet up and have a beer next time I'm in St. Louis.

I agree with chaard, st. louis is not a dying community, i recently graduated from a tech school in st. louis and i'm not having the easiest time finding work either. there are a lot of companies looking, but they all want that experienced guy or it seems like they want you to work for nothing. recently however though, i've been having much better luck with specialized trades within the hvac industry. i've had several interviews in the last few weeks for things like stationary engineering, one for a custom sheet metal shops & for an apprenticeship with smwia. have you considered trying the smwia, ua or operating engineers for apprenticeships, or the multitude of non-union sheet metal shops, maintenance positions, boiler operators things like that. i understand it's not necessarily going to be installs or service work, but there are other trades related to hvac that could allow you to keep earning & learning while you look for other opportunities.

I agree with chaard, st. louis is not a dying community, i recently graduated from a tech school in st. louis and i'm not having the easiest time finding work either. there are a lot of companies looking, but they all want that experienced guy or it seems like they want you to work for nothing. recently however though, i've been having much better luck with specialized trades within the hvac industry. i've had several interviews in the last few weeks for things like stationary engineering, one for a custom sheet metal shops & for an apprenticeship with smwia. have you considered trying the smwia, ua or operating engineers for apprenticeships, or the multitude of non-union sheet metal shops, maintenance positions, boiler operators things like that. i understand it's not necessarily going to be installs or service work, but there are other trades related to hvac that could allow you to keep earning & learning while you look for other opportunities.

Does "having much better luck" mean that you have found a job? Or does it mean that you are only getting interviews for jobs that you aren't qualified for, or do not want?

If you have a job, or if you got any offers, tell us about them, whether they are good or bad. Starting pay, benefits, hours or whatever else you can think of.

having better luck means i'm getting interviews for good jobs I am qualified for, whereas before i graduated i wasn't even getting that far (or at least i wouldn't have called them interviews). you can't get a job without going on interviews, and with each interview i go on, i get more comfortable in my interviewing skills and more confident in my job search. i know it's just a matter of time before something turns up, it may not be my ideal job, but i'm just getting in the field, i have plenty of time to work towards my "dream job" so to speak. i have been offered two lowball job offers, i just said thanks, but no thanks. you can either be pessimistic, like most of joe cools posts seem to be, or you can be confident that with hard work and determination, something will come your way. My guess would be Joe Cool needs to work on interviewing skills, his resume, job hunting tactics, work history, appearance, or something along those lines, something has to be lacking to not have been able to find a job in that amount of time.

having better luck means i'm getting interviews for good jobs I am qualified for, whereas before i graduated i wasn't even getting that far (or at least i wouldn't have called them interviews). you can't get a job without going on interviews, and with each interview i go on, i get more comfortable in my interviewing skills and more confident in my job search. i know it's just a matter of time before something turns up, it may not be my ideal job, but i'm just getting in the field, i have plenty of time to work towards my "dream job" so to speak. i have been offered two lowball job offers, i just said thanks, but no thanks. you can either be pessimistic, like most of joe cools posts seem to be, or you can be confident that with hard work and determination, something will come your way. My guess would be Joe Cool needs to work on interviewing skills, his resume, job hunting tactics, work history, appearance, or something along those lines, something has to be lacking to not have been able to find a job in that amount of time.

Maybe I do need to work on a few things but the funny thing is that you are no better off than me, so it seems. Where are you working now? Wal-mart? So what are these "good jobs" jobs that you are qualified for with no experience?

I just ask a simple question jackass. There is no need to get all defensive about it. My guess would be you are frustrated because you can't get all the jobs that all the schools said that you could get.

As far as getting a job is concerned, I do have a job, just not in the HVAC trade. After about 6 months of looking, I decided to look outside of the HVAC trade. Hard work and determination will only get you so far if the "entry level jobs" aren't out there. Eventually you realize that you have to have a paycheck coming in and can't just sit around and wait for the perfect job to come around.

Just out of curiosity, how long have you been looking? I find it funny that your are giving advice on how to land a job in a new field when you have yet to do so yourself.

I've been attending a tech school in st. louis, i make good grades and i have a solid work history, (no applicable hands on experience, but solid work history nonetheless), i've been looking for a first job in the field for approx. 6 mos. the only company to even call me back only started at $8/hr. i live in illinois where minimum wage is like $7.75/hr. i know of another company in the town where i live that only starts at $8. How are people supposed to survive on $8 bucks an hour. I'm starting to wonder why I'm paying over 20 grand for an education it seems like I'm never going to be able to use. It's very frustrating.

I just went back and looked at your profile and found this previous post from 7/8/08. Now I understand why you are so frustrated. Just like I suspected. You see, you and I aren't all that different after all. You had already been looking for work for 6 months according to this post, and that was 4 months ago. That is almost a year already. The only real difference between you and I is that I didn't spent 20 grand on my education. If I had spent that kind of dough, I would be pretty upset too.

first of all, i already have a well paying job, probably better paying than i am going to find starting out in hvac. (that means i will probably have to take a pay cut to get in the field). it's not all about the paycheck, if you don't like what you do, it's not worth doing. secondly, i did post that way back when, i'll admit it was a moment of rash thinking. however, i just graduated and since february i have been working 50+ hours a week and going to school 4 nights a week. that pretty much left me with enough time to search the internet for a couple hours a week. as i got closer to the end i didn't worry so much about finding a job, i know i will find something. i'm intelligent, hard working and pick up on things quickly. i have a great resume and as i stated earlier, every interview i go on i feel i perform better. i am confident that while you complain about not being able to find a job, there are jobs there. and sure there are the 2-bit contractors who don't want to pay you anything and yes it does get frustrating at times, but i'm using and will continue to use every resource i can to find a job that suits me and my interests. that's the difference you said you've had 2 interviews in a year & a half, i turned down 2 jobs i was offered after seeing my resume and short phone interviews (those were the 2 jobs mentioned earlier) and i turned these down while i was still in school, then i interviewed for a job i didn't get or want, then in the last 2 weeks i've interviewed for 3 other jobs, 1 of them had a lot of applicants so i don't feel so great about my chances there but the other 2 i feel real good about and should be hearing something back from them this week or next week. and even if they offer me work, i may not take it. so while i may not have landed a job in a new field, i can give advice joe cool, because i have landed better jobs in the past than i had at the time. and i will continue to do so, while naysayers like you will sit around & whine & complain & belittle everyone around you because your not happy with your life.

first of all, i already have a well paying job, probably better paying than i am going to find starting out in hvac. (that means i will probably have to take a pay cut to get in the field). it's not all about the paycheck, if you don't like what you do, it's not worth doing. secondly, i did post that way back when, i'll admit it was a moment of rash thinking. however, i just graduated and since february i have been working 50+ hours a week and going to school 4 nights a week. that pretty much left me with enough time to search the internet for a couple hours a week. as i got closer to the end i didn't worry so much about finding a job, i know i will find something. i'm intelligent, hard working and pick up on things quickly. i have a great resume and as i stated earlier, every interview i go on i feel i perform better. i am confident that while you complain about not being able to find a job, there are jobs there. and sure there are the 2-bit contractors who don't want to pay you anything and yes it does get frustrating at times, but i'm using and will continue to use every resource i can to find a job that suits me and my interests. that's the difference you said you've had 2 interviews in a year & a half, i turned down 2 jobs i was offered after seeing my resume and short phone interviews (those were the 2 jobs mentioned earlier) and i turned these down while i was still in school, then i interviewed for a job i didn't get or want, then in the last 2 weeks i've interviewed for 3 other jobs, 1 of them had a lot of applicants so i don't feel so great about my chances there but the other 2 i feel real good about and should be hearing something back from them this week or next week. and even if they offer me work, i may not take it. so while i may not have landed a job in a new field, i can give advice joe cool, because i have landed better jobs in the past than i had at the time. and i will continue to do so, while naysayers like you will sit around & whine & complain & belittle everyone around you because your not happy with your life.

It may seem that I whine & complain but if you were to read the OP's original question you would realize that I'm just trying to give him an honest answer, from my limited experience, even if it does seem to be a bit pessimistic. I just wish someone could have told me the same before I had started school. If they had, I probably would have chosen something different.

My earlier question about having better luck, was not meant to offend you. It was just a simple question based on the fact that you were not working in the field after having multiple interviews. It has to be one or the other. Either you weren't qualified (meaning that there must be others more qualified), or you didn't want the job (probably meaning the job doesn't pay squat). I was just curious and wanted to know which. Not one time did I try to belittle you. At least not until you jumped my a$$.

As far as my job search is concerned, yeah I did look for a year and a half but probably only seriously for the first six months. After that my enthusiasm level (not to mention my bank account) went down real fast and I had no choice but so settle for something else. I'm sure that I could find something if I was to expand my search radius but for the wages that they offer someone with no experience I don't think that I could afford to.

all i'm saying is that there are alot of jobs out there that are not necessarily installing or servicing furnaces or air conditioners but where you would find an education in hvac helpful. it might just help you get your foot in the door somewhere else. i will tell you the 2 jobs i turned down paid respectively $8 & $9/hr, that's why i turned them down, another job interview i went to was for john henry foster, servicing air compressors & chiller units that job started around $16/hr but it had it's drawbacks, i didn't really want it, they didn't offer it to me, no harm no foul. lately, i've had an interview at a large university to operate and service boilers, i don't know how that one's going to go yet, it pays very well, within a few years, in the neighborhood of $26/hr, i've also gone on an interview for a small custom sheet metal shop just last week, i think it went very well, but i didn't ask how much they usually start at, i also went and tested for smwia, i don't know the results of that yet either, but in 4 years at journeyman status it pays around $29/hr. additionally i got a call today for a large dept store chain looking for maintenance, wanting to set up an interview, i don't know if i'll call them back though, don't know if i want to even explore that route. you see, in none of these jobs would i strictly be installing or servicing air conditioning equip, but my training in this field would be beneficial to all of them on one level or another. i apologize if you felt attacked, i just feel like if you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to make it happen.

all i'm saying is that there are alot of jobs out there that are not necessarily installing or servicing furnaces or air conditioners but where you would find an education in hvac helpful. it might just help you get your foot in the door somewhere else. i will tell you the 2 jobs i turned down paid respectively $8 & $9/hr, that's why i turned them down, another job interview i went to was for john henry foster, servicing air compressors & chiller units that job started around $16/hr but it had it's drawbacks, i didn't really want it, they didn't offer it to me, no harm no foul. lately, i've had an interview at a large university to operate and service boilers, i don't know how that one's going to go yet, it pays very well, within a few years, in the neighborhood of $26/hr, i've also gone on an interview for a small custom sheet metal shop just last week, i think it went very well, but i didn't ask how much they usually start at, i also went and tested for smwia, i don't know the results of that yet either, but in 4 years at journeyman status it pays around $29/hr. additionally i got a call today for a large dept store chain looking for maintenance, wanting to set up an interview, i don't know if i'll call them back though, don't know if i want to even explore that route. you see, in none of these jobs would i strictly be installing or servicing air conditioning equip, but my training in this field would be beneficial to all of them on one level or another. i apologize if you felt attacked, i just feel like if you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to make it happen.

Yes you are right. The job that I have right now has absolutely nothing to do with HVAC. They just wanted someone with a little mechanical and electrical knowledge. Without the training that I had received, I probably wouldn't have gotten it.

So tell me a little about that job at John Henry Foster. I've seen it advertised and actually thought about applying. I just figured that it was further away then what I was willing to drive and didn't expect the starting pay to be that much. What are the drawbacks you talk about? Do they give you a company vehicle that you can take home? Also what department store chain are you talking about. Since you don't seem as though you are interested in it, maybe you won't mind giving me a job lead.